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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →On September 19, 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court imposed a R$5 million-per-day fine on X after the platform became accessible again despite a nationwide suspension. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said X had circumvented the court-ordered block. The order made Starlink, a separate Elon Musk-linked company, subsidiarily responsible if X failed to pay.
This was a completed 2024 confrontation, not a new fine threat in 2026. X later met the court’s requirements, paid outstanding penalties, and returned to Brazil in October 2024.
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What Brazil ordered
The immediate dispute began with Brazil’s August 30, 2024 order suspending X’s operation in the country. Internet-service providers were instructed to block access after X failed to maintain a Brazilian legal representative and did not comply with other judicial orders involving account blocking and information disclosure.
A local representative mattered because Brazilian courts needed an entity or person in the country able to receive orders and be held accountable for compliance. The Supreme Federal Court had separately rejected the idea that X Brasil could avoid responsibility by arguing that decisions were made only by foreign corporate entities. The court’s explanation described the importance of local responsibility.
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The suspension was an access-blocking order, not a permanent dissolution of X. It also sought to prevent the platform from restoring access through technical workarounds.
Why X became reachable again
On September 18, some Brazilian users could access X again after the platform changed network infrastructure and used new access points. Reporting connected the renewed accessibility with network and content-delivery providers including Cloudflare, Fastly and EdgeUno.
Brazilian regulators and Moraes treated the change as a maneuver that defeated the blocking order. X gave a different account, saying the restoration was inadvertent and temporary and resulted from a change in network providers rather than a deliberate attempt to evade the suspension.
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How much was the fine?
The court imposed a R$5 million daily penalty for continued non-compliance with the order to block the newly available access routes. The official Supreme Federal Court announcement stated that X Brasil Internet Ltda. was directly subject to the penalty and that Starlink would be responsible on a subsidiary basis if X did not pay.
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“Subsidiary” responsibility is important. It did not mean that Starlink operated X or that the two companies were the same legal entity. It meant the court treated Starlink as potentially responsible for satisfying the obligation if the primary debtor, X, failed to do so.
The fine was denominated in Brazilian reais. Contemporary reports sometimes described R$5 million as roughly US$900,000 per day, but the dollar value depended on the exchange rate at the time.
The STF’s official statement is the primary source for the amount and Starlink’s subsidiary responsibility.
Why Starlink was pulled into X’s dispute
Starlink is a satellite-internet provider and a separate corporate entity from X. Both were associated with Musk, but common ownership or control was not the court’s only stated basis for its actions.
Moraes had previously ordered the freezing of Brazilian financial assets belonging to Starlink and X to secure payment of fines connected to X. The court held that X Brasil, Starlink Brazil Holding and Starlink Brazil Serviços had a sufficient economic or corporate relationship for Starlink’s assets to be used in securing those obligations.
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In September 2024, approximately R$18.35 million was transferred from frozen accounts to Brazil’s treasury, after which the account restrictions were lifted. Reuters reporting carried by UOL covered the transfer.
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Starlink disputed the asset freeze. It initially told Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, that it would not comply with the order to block X while its Brazilian accounts remained frozen. It later reversed that position and said it was complying with the blocking order. Reuters reported the initial position, while later coverage reported Starlink’s compliance.
The different financial penalties and payments
The R$5 million daily penalty was only one part of the broader dispute. The amounts below arose from different orders and should not be added together automatically:
| Measure | Amount | Target or source | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-circumvention penalty | R$5 million per day | X; Starlink subsidiarily | Alleged failure to block newly available access routes |
| Reported user-circumvention penalty | R$50,000 per day | Individuals or entities intentionally bypassing the suspension | Use of VPNs or similar technical measures |
| Earlier X penalties | About R$8.1 million reported | X | Earlier failures involving account blocking and data provision |
| Funds transferred from frozen accounts | About R$18.35 million | Frozen X and Starlink accounts | Payment toward outstanding penalties |
| Later reinstatement-related penalty | R$10 million reported | X | Additional non-compliance during the restoration process |
The R$18.35 million was a transfer from frozen accounts, not the same thing as a new daily fine. The earlier R$8.1 million and later R$10 million figures also came from separate stages of the litigation. The respective reports are available from AP’s account of earlier penalties and AP’s report on later reinstatement conditions.
Could ordinary users be fined for using a VPN?
Moraes’s August order reportedly included a R$50,000-per-day penalty for individuals or companies that deliberately used technical means, including VPNs, to circumvent the suspension.
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That did not mean every Brazilian who accidentally encountered X or used a VPN automatically owed R$50,000 per day. The reported provision concerned intentional circumvention, and the practical enforcement of penalties against individual users was unclear. The treatment of VPN applications was also narrowed or modified after criticism.
Freedom-of-expression groups raised concerns about the breadth and enforceability of the measure. The Inter-American Commission’s report discusses the concerns without establishing a definitive ruling that the measures violated international free-expression standards.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What X had to do to return
To regain access, X needed to resolve several separate compliance issues, including:
- appointing a legal representative in Brazil;
- complying with orders to block specified accounts;
- providing required information and documentation;
- paying outstanding fines; and
- meeting additional procedural conditions imposed during the reinstatement process.
In late September, X said it had appointed a representative, blocked the required accounts and paid outstanding fines. Moraes requested additional documentation and imposed further conditions, including a reported R$10 million penalty connected with the reinstatement process.
In October 2024, the court accepted that the requirements had been met and lifted the suspension. Axios reported the end of the ban. X therefore was not still banned in Brazil when viewed from the final outcome of the dispute.
Why the case mattered
The confrontation combined several distinct questions:
- Platform compliance: Whether a global service operating in Brazil must maintain a local representative and obey Brazilian court orders.
- Internet infrastructure: Whether changing network or CDN providers can unintentionally make a blocked service reachable—and whether a court may still treat that result as non-compliance.
- Collection against related companies: Whether assets of a separate but related company can be frozen or made subsidiarily responsible for another company’s penalties.
- Speech and judicial authority: Whether enforcing account-blocking orders and suspending a platform improperly restricts expression, or instead represents ordinary legal accountability for a service operating in Brazil.
Musk and X characterized Moraes’s actions as censorship and an attack on free expression. Supporters of the court argued that X was refusing to comply with lawful orders and that companies serving Brazilian users must follow Brazilian law. Those are competing legal and political positions, not neutral descriptions of an established final judgment on international free-expression standards.
Quick Recap
The timeline in brief
- July 2024: X faced earlier orders involving specified accounts and information, along with reported penalties for non-compliance.
- August 17: X announced the closure of its Brazilian office, while the dispute over a local legal representative continued.
- August 30: Moraes ordered X suspended and directed internet providers to block access.
- Late August to September 13: Brazilian accounts connected to X and Starlink were frozen; about R$18.35 million was transferred to the treasury.
- September 18: X became reachable for some users after network-infrastructure changes.
- September 19: The STF announced the R$5 million-per-day fine and Starlink’s subsidiary responsibility.
- September 26–28: X sought reinstatement after reporting compliance; additional documentation and conditions followed.
- October 2024: The suspension was lifted after X complied and paid outstanding fines.
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